Content Warning: This article contains mentions of sexual assault and may be potentially triggering for some readers.
Life was going great for Knives Out fans after the announcement of the likes of Josh O’Connor, Andrew Scott, and the legendary Glenn Close as part of the cast of the franchise’s third installment. That all changed when Mila Kunis and Jeremy Renner joined the fold.
Titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the third outing of Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc has been all everyone can talk about on the film fans’ side of social media. After the success of the first two Rian Johnson films, picking their dream cast for future Knives Out sequels has become the latter’s favorite pastime, and the director and Netflix seemed to be nailing the game after announcing the casting of the internet’s most recent heartthrobs, O’Connor and Scott, as well as beloved rising star Cailee Spaeny, and equally as beloved established screen legends Close and Kerry Washington. Then they announced Kunis and Renner.
Why is Mila Kunis and Jeremy Renner’s casting in the third Knives Out film controversial?
Mila Kunis fell out of favor with the public in 2023 when she and her husband Ashton Kutcher provided character letters in support of fellow That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson amid his rape trial. In a video apology, the couple explained the statements were meant to lessen Masterson’s sentence, which was ultimately that of an indefinite period of 30 years to life in prison for two counts of rape. The jury was deadlocked on a third count, with an 8 to 4 vote in favor of conviction.
In her letter that has since been made public, Kunis vouches for the convicted rapist’s “exceptional character,” and highlights his positive influence in her life. In their apology, the couple stated they were contacted by Masterson’s family to help “represent the person that [they] knew for 25 years,” and did not intend to question the legitimacy of the judicial system, or the validity of the jury’s ruling. The rapes all happened in the early 2000s when all three actors were working on the sitcom.
Jeremy Renner, on the other hand, has been accused by ex-wife Sonni Pacheco of several alleged concerning behaviors during their marriage in 2014, including substance abuse, threatening to kill her, stealing her passport and other documents, leaving drugs on the bathroom counter within reach of their daughter, and firing a gun while the latter was sleeping in her room, after putting it in his own mouth during an argument.
The Marvel actor has denied all the accusations throughout the years, accusing Pacheco of being unstable, scorned, and looking to get her hands on his movie fortune. His most recent comments regarding the events came in a 2021 Men’s Health interview where he said he wouldn’t “respond publicly or privately to nonsense.”
Fans of the Knives Out franchise aren’t thrilled that the two controversial actors were given the opportunity to star in such a massive film and think their involvement has already spoiled their whole experience. The first two films were huge box office and streaming hits, respectively, and with the forthcoming sequel gearing up for a 2025 release, only time can tell whether Renner and Kunis’ casting will in any way deter it from continuing the winning streak.
